


Key

by Cherith



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Carroll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-05
Updated: 2010-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherith/pseuds/Cherith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice contemplates life in Wonderland, and at home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Key

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the LJ community Brigits_Flame. Key challenge.

I know it's not much, but it will have to do. She had spent a good deal of time lately thinking that very thought. But of course, it was never about the same thing. Couldn't be, of course. There was far too much her to be troubled with in both good ways and bad ways. This new particular dilemma however, was not going to sort it self out. While a great deal of the issues she had faced recently had simply vanished on their own, or been blown out to sea by an errant wind (or walrus), she know this one wasn't just going to wash away. No devilish man in a rakish top hat was going to invite her to a carefree tea party to get her out of this mess. And no mysterious shadowed feline would point her in any direction out of here either. She was, above all, on her own shoulders this time. How quickly things can change, how quickly people appear, or disappear again. But the same, she'd come to discover, could be said about challenges as well. Each challenge seemed to have a mind of it's very own, popping in and out when they deemed her a necessary competitor in their games.

The key, she thought, is all about how quickly I can figure out the problems when they do choose to arrive. The whole mess with the crackers and the drinks had taken entirely too long. And then again, inside that awful house...oh how cramped it had gotten inside. If only she could sort these things out a little sooner. She'd already decided one of her new rules was to begin ignoring labeled food items. Every time she chose to partake in one of them because she felt they were directing her to, she found herself in some sort of size conundrum, and that just would not do anymore. She patted the pockets on her dress apron for reassurance. She had kept just enough food in them in case. Separated by which direction she might grow if needed. But she'd rather leave those for a last resort, after all, she wasn't even sure they'd work just now. And if they did, that would not be a solution for this particular problem, and would of course in turn, only create more.

She stared steadfastly at the mirror in front of her, and noticed while her mind wandered over her recent challenges that the mirror flickered in front of her. She turned around to see what reflection she'd seen, but there was no one. She though it might have only been one of her younger sisters passing between rooms in the hallway. She hadn't been paying close enough attention to what she could see in the mirror, so she hadn't noticed exactly, but it was just as well. If she was quick enough she could get out of the room before anyone noticed her, and be back where she wanted to be in time for tea (provided you'd forgotten that it was always teatime where she wanted to be). The problem of course was that the mirror only reflected her parents living room now, drab furniture and cozy but colorless rugs. Nothing so exciting as a castle with card guards, regardless of the garden rose's colors. If it only reflected this place, could the mirror take her where she wanted, no, needed to be? She wasn't sure now, but it was worth a try.

Pulling one of her parents sturdy wooden stools over towards the fireplace, she stepped up atop it, one foot at a time, carefully making sure that her black dress shoes didn't clack against the wood as she stood up. She could reach it now, the mirror with the large gold frame, the one she's seen her destination in so many times when her mind wandered during long photography sessions. Hesitantly, she patted her pockets again, smoothed her apron down, as well as her hair after a second thought, and reached out a nervous hand. "The key is simple," she whispered as her hand slipped through and passed her smiling reflection, "I'm sure of it, I need to be there, and so I shall be."


End file.
